I LIKE TO think that this column occasionally has an impact on public policy but I know that it is a mouse scratch compared with the punch delivered by radio talk-show host Albert Cheng King-hon in his Teacup in a Storm programme on Commercial Radio.
When Mr Cheng says he wants a senior government official to respond to comments made by callers to his programme, he gets that response and quickly too. The summons cuts right through schedules and meetings with the juniors scrambling to alert the boss and get him on air. Albert has crooked his finger. Rush for the phone.
So it does not entirely surprise me to hear legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing talk of rumours that some Executive Council members are unwilling to renew Commercial Radio's licence. They have been usurped by a talk-show host. They no longer lead. They react.
But what surprises me is that an attempt to take the initiative back from Mr Cheng has come through the Broadcasting Authority in the form of a warning that in two interviews with senior officials he had not taken care when using words 'capable of adversely affecting the reputation of individuals'.
Now I know the broadcasting code of practice says broadcasters should not do this sort of thing, but if we are to take it at face value, then talk-show hosts really cannot do much more than recite pages of old cook books.
If government officials have been incompetent or said something silly, then public embarrassment is their due lot. If it affects their reputation, then so be it. If they then claim that their reputations were unfairly damaged, we have laws against libel and they can resort to the courts.
What needs to be changed is the code of practice. You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs. You cannot have worthwhile public discussion of public policy without the occasional policymaker getting egg on his face. Give me the broken eggs any day. Eggs have no use in this kitchen if they are never broken.